Japan's Journey, Part 2

When last we left the Land of the Rising Sun, the nation had fallen into perennial civil war, as powerful feudal lords--the daimyo--used their "knights"--the samurai--to vie for control. But it wasn't all provincial politics and samurai swords.

Between the 14th and 17th centuries, Shinto beliefs gained prominence and helped bind the otherwise divided nation together. Meanwhile, transportation and communication improved, in part to facilitate continual military movements. Starting in the mid-16th century, a few daimyo even got rich trading with newly arrived Europeans, first the Portuguese (1543), then the Spanish (1587), then the Dutch (1609).

Finally, around the turn of the 17th century, a succession of powerful leaders put an end to the infighting and laid the foundations for the Tokugawa shogunate. And Japan got two centuries of peace, prosperity, and flourishing culture.

The Re-Rise of the Shoguns

Oda Nobunaga got the reunification ball rolling in the late 16th century, capturing Kyoto and conquering a series of rival daimyo with help from his general, Toyotomi Hideyoshi. When Nobunaga was killed in 1582, Hideyoshi picked up where Nobunaga left off.

Born a commoner without so much as a surname, Hideyoshi had risen to become Japan's most powerful man. Not content, he invaded Korea, then a Chinese vassal state. It didn't work, so he tried again in 1597. It still didn't work, and Hideyoshi died the next year.

After a struggle with Hideyoshi's family, Tokugawa Ieyasu assumed control. Soon the Tokugawa family enjoyed pride of place within a carefully centralized--and rigidly hierarchical--social and political system. Officially, the emperor was in charge. In fact, the Tokugawa shogun was. Ieyasu described the emperor and his court as "very precious and decorative, like gold and silver."

Samurai Swansong

Less valued in the Tokugawa system were westerners and other outsiders. Trade was severely restricted, and a 1635 edict forbade Japanese from traveling to foreign lands--or, if they did, from ever returning.

Then, in the early 19th century, whalers and warships from Russia, Great Britain, and America started arriving in Japanese harbors. In 1853, gunboats under the command of U.S. Commodore Matthew C. Perry arrived to "negotiate" a treaty. The following year, Japan opened two ports to U.S. ships. More commercial concessions to western powers followed.

A combination of foreigners (who wanted to force Japan to trade), peasants (who were fed up with food shortages and samurai-supporting taxes), and good old-fashioned power politics took down the Tokugawa regime in 1867. Many who took part in that taking down wanted to preserve traditional values and retain their feudal rights. Instead, they wound up westernizing Japan.

The Rise of the Modernizers

A new ruling class, the so-called Meiji oligarchy, took over day-to-day governing and drove the initial reforms forward. In 1871, they abolished the old Tokugawa class system, in which samurai, farmers, artisans, and merchants had different legal statuses. Now, all Japanese would be equal before the law--at least in theory.

The oligarchy invested in railroads, shipyards, factories, and mines, and began to modernize the military along western lines. They even dispatched "learning missions" to western nations to bring back knowledge on everything from prison systems to the import-export business. After centuries of seclusion from the modernizing West, Japan was determined to catch up quick.

Along the way, democratic ideals and early forms of representative government began to take root. Political parties emerged. Even the emperor came out in favor of constitutional government (though he preferred that it come "in gradual stages"). Still, most Meiji movers and shakers were less interested in bringing power to the Japanese people than they were in remaking Japan as an international power.

The Rise of the Militarists

Backed by the region's only industrialized economy, the Japanese military became a dominant force in East Asia. First Japan beat up China (1894-95). Then it beat up Russia (1904-05). After that, it took over management of Korea. During World War I, Japan declared war on Germany--and extended its influence in China and the Pacific. The war in Europe brought economic benefits, too, as Japan produced supplies for western allies.

Nationalist societies cropped up across the country. By the early 1930s, factions of the Japanese military had begun to operate outside civilian control. In 1932, a group of young military officers even assassinated Japan's prime minister. Four years later, some 1,500 troops went on a rampage in Tokyo, terrorizing civilian government leaders.

Military Fall and LDP Rise

By the end of 1937, Japan had invaded China again and signed its first strategic agreement with Nazi Germany. Four years after that, on December 7, 1941, Japanese forces launched their attack on Pearl Harbor. In August 1945, the United States detonated atomic bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japan surrendered unconditionally, and the Allied commander, U.S. General Douglas MacArthur, took control.

In 1947, Japan adopted a new constitution, sometimes called the "MacArthur Constitution." Political parties revived almost immediately, and in 1955, two of them--the Liberal Party and the Japan Democratic Party--merged to create the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). The LDP presided over Japan's post-war recovery, described by more than one commentator as an "economic miracle." It has held power in Japan almost continuously since it was born. Its current leader is Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda.